The Teaching of Ajahn Suchart.
28 May 2024
Q&A
Q: According to modern science, sleep is essential for our health, and 7-8 hours of sleep is usually recommended. Could you elaborate on the Buddha’s stance on the importance of sleep? According to Buddhist writings, the Buddha slept less than three hours a day. Could you explain?
A: Well, the Buddha recommended monks to sleep about four hours a night. From 6 pm to 10 pm, monks should be doing walking or sitting meditation. Then from 10 pm to 2 am monks should take a rest and sleep.
Then after 2 am monks have to get up and do more walking and sitting meditation until 6 am and then they start to go on alms rounds. So yes, sleep is essential, the body needs sleep, but it does not need seven or eight hours like the people in the world do. For people who meditate, four hours a night is good enough.
Q: Are post–bereavement hallucinations and voices possible/real? I have often heard people telling that they have undergone this experience soon after the death of a relative.
Can this happen?
A: Many things can happen in the mind. And the way to deal with them is to ignore them or treat them as natural phenomena. Treat them as anicca, anattā. They come and go, and there is nothing that you can do to stop/prevent them. When they come let them come, when they go let them go. Do not give them any importance. They are just phenomena that come and go.
“Dhamma in English, Jul 18, 2023.”
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Q: Sak Surin, the Thai tusker that was allegedly abused in Sri Lanka was airlifted to Thailand earlier this month. Numerous organizations that advocate for elephant welfare expressed their opposition to keeping elephants in captivity once more following Sak Surin’s incident. Elephants belong in the wild, not in captivity, are the basic defences.
What is the Buddhist perspective on keeping animals in captivity? Should we keep any animal in captivity at all?
A: Well, the Buddhist view regarding animal captivity is that we should not put an animal in captivity because we do not like to be kept in captivity ourselves, so we do not want to treat others likewise. But in some cases, you might have to keep an animal in captivity for their own welfare or the welfare of the public because, sometimes, if they are allowed to roam, they might cause harm to other people.
If that is the case they have to be put in a cage to prevent them from hurting others, and also hurting themselves because they eventually might get killed. So captivity might be for special reasons, but generally speaking, we should not put animals or people in a cage. We should let them live freely.
Q: Elephants are used in Buddhist Processions. The elephant is considered a sacred/special animal as it is used to carry the sacred relics of the Buddha during the procession seasons. Many consider that the animal acquires a lot of merit by carrying the Tooth Relic of the Buddha as it is a wonderful opportunity for the animal to be trained to perform a sacred task. Does the tusker acquire merit by performing such tasks?
Does the elephant have a feeling that it is performing a sacred act?
A: No, because the elephant does not know what it is doing. In order for you to make merit, you should know that you are doing something good for somebody then you can gain merit. But if you are forced to do it, you are just doing it because you are like a slave then you do not get any merit.
Q: Doesn’t the elephant have a feeling that it is performing a sacred act?
A: I don’t think so. I don’t think the elephant knows what is going on.
Q: Some people hold the view that animals are made for human consumption/use and therefore animal abuse is acceptable. What is the Buddhist point of view?
A: The Buddhist view is we should have loving kindness for all forms of beings -whether humans or animals. We should not treat them badly or abuse them.
We should give them loving kindness.
Q: I recently came across a social media post that said that those who overreact to animal suffering or who are fully devoted to animal welfare are more likely to be reborn in non-human or animal realms in their subsequent births. Is there any truth behind such claims based on the teachings of the Buddha?
A: No, there is no truth to this at all. The only way that you can be born as an animal is when you break the Precepts like killing, stealing, committing adultery, or lying. This can cause you to be reborn in the animal realms of existence. Otherwise, if you have close contact with animals that does not mean that you will be reborn as an animal.
Q: In which Suttas, did the Buddha highlight the importance of treating animals with loving kindness?
Could you enlighten us on the precise teachings of the Buddha regarding the treatment of animals?
A: I cannot quote a Sutta, but I can quote you the general teachings of the Buddha. We should have the four Brahma-Viharas when dealing with other beings, that we should have loving kindness, we should have compassion, we should have sympathetic joy, and should have equanimity when we deal with every type of beings whether human or animal.
Q: What qualities should an ideal Buddhist possess?
A: Buddhists should possess Brahma Viharas (the four qualities of a Brahma) which is mettā, karuṇā, muditā, and upekkhā translated as loving kindness, compassion, sympathetic joy, and equanimity.
Q: Is it more virtuous to offer eatables to a starving human than an animal?
A: No, you get the same merit whether you offer to a human or an animal.
“Dhamma in English, Jul 25, 2023.”
By Ajahn Suchart Abhijāto
YouTube: Dhamma in English.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCi_BnRZmNgECsJGS31F495g
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This Q&A was also published here:
https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2023/07/30/spectrum/treat-others-way-you-want-be-treated
This Q&A was also published here:
https://www.sundayobserver.lk/2023/07/30/spectrum/treat-others-way-you-want-be-treated
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